J. J. HILDER

Australian and International Fine Art, Deutscher-Menzies, Melbourne, 15 & 16 June 2005, lot 86, as Lennox Bridge
Private collection, Melbourne

The NSW Surveyor-General, Major Thomas Mitchell employed David Lennox (1788 - 1873) to build a number of masonry bridges in NSW.
The first was over Brookside Creek on the eastern approach to the Blue Mountains at Lapstone Hill and is known as Lennox Bridge.
However, the painting on offer appears to be 'His greatest bridge ..... the Landsdowne Bridge across Prospect Creek, between Parramatta and Liverpool, completed in January 1836'¹ Bridges were a favourite subject for Hilder, with no fewer than 30 recorded in the list of paintings in The Heritage of JJ Hilder. ²
A similar version of the present work sold at Sothebys, August 1994, lot 323

We are most grateful to Col Fullagar for his assistance cataloguing this work.

1. Heritage Study of Masonry Bridges in NSW, 2005, RTA, 1.7
2. The Heritage of JJ Hilder, Ure Smith Pty Ltd, Sydney, 1966